Pulley



y 1942- T. K. WATSON 2,290,924

PULLEY Filed Dec. 2, 1940 INVENTOR ATTOR N EYS Patented July 28, 1942UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PULLEY Timothy K. Watson, Jersey City, N. J.Application December 2, 1940, Serial No. 368,263

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in pulleys primarilydesigned for use with clotheslines though not limited in use therewith.

An important object of the invention is to provide a pulley or wheelhaving extensible and retractible means for retaining a line in positionthereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterhaving a rotatable member and a fixedly secured track within the former,said member and track being mounted on a fixed shaft, and meansassociated with the track extending through the rotatable member forconfining and retaining a line in position on the outer circumference ofsaid member.

The invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing andspecifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in'which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the pulley embodying the featuresof the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of one of the leverretaining members.

Referring to the drawing for a more detailed description thereof, theimproved pulley is generally designated by the reference numeral 5 andincludes a bell-shaped body member 6, top member l and bottom members 8and 9, respectively. The upper end of the body member 6 has anintegrally extending flange II] to which. the top member 1 is attachedby means of threaded bolts or similar fastening means I l. The bottommembers 8 and 9 are held in spaced relation within the body member 6with the member 8 welded or otherwise secured to the interior thereofand the member 9 held within the flanged groove l2.

A shaft I3 is mounted centrally of the body member 6, the lower end ofsaid shaft extending through the member 8 and provided with suitablebearings l4. Complementary bearings l5 are mounted on the upper end ofthe shaft in engagement with the lower face of the top member 1, thebearings l4 and I5 permitting free rotation of the pulley 5 on the shaftI3. A nut l6 prevents vertical movement of the shaft l3 when the pulley5 is suspended from a bracket l1, said bracket being of conventionalconstruction and attached to a suitable support l8 with the free end ofthe bracket securely clamped to the upper end of the shaft I3 as clearlyshown in Figure 1 of the drawing. With the pulley 5 suspended from thebracket H, the shaft l3 will be fixedly held while said pulley will befree to rotate thereon. It is to be understood that two or more pulleysare tobe suspended in spaced relation for mounting a clothesline or thelike, a clothesline rope being diagrammatically shown in Figure 1 of thedrawing and identified by the reference numeral I9.

An annular groove 20 is formed in the body member 6 adapted to beengaged by the rope l9, which rope will be held therein by a means to behereinafter described. Mounted on the shaft [3 within the pulley 5 is atrackway generally designated by the reference numeral 2 I, saidtrackway including a hub 22 through which the shaft I3 extends with saidhub locked to the shaft by means indicated at 23. The hub 22 forms apart of a web portion 24, said web portion being integral with thetrackway. As more particularly shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawing,the outer periphery of the trackway is substantially C-shaped in crosssection and supports therein a plurality of levers 25 of substantiallyT-shape formation. The vertical section of levers 25 is formed with abearing surface 26 having engagement with the back wall 21 of thetrackway, while the horizontal section is formed with a bearing surface28 adaptedfor engagement with either wall 29 or 30 of the trackway. Theextreme ends of the vertical sections are never in contact with eitherthe top or bottom walls 3| and 32 of the trackway as is apparent from aninspection of Figure 2 of the drawing, wherein there is shown onebearing 28 having engagement with the wall 29 and another bearing 28having engagement with the wall 38. The free end of the horizontalsection of levers 25 is formed with eyes 33 to which the hooks 34 areattached, said hooks adapted to be extended and retracted throughopenings 35 formed in spaced relation beneath the annular groove 20. Thehooks are extended and retracted upon movement of thelevers 25 in thetrackway 2| upon rotation of the pulley 5, with certain of the hooksbeing extended for confining the rope l9 within the groove 20 whilecertain other hooks are retracted. As shown more particularly in Figure3 of the drawing, the trackway 2| is cam-shaped in top elevation and isformed of two semi-circular members one of which is smaller than theother and united by means of an irregular curve as indicated at 36. Whenthe levers 25 are in that portion of the trackway formed of the largersemi-circle, the hooks 34 are extended through the openings 35 andlikewise when the levers are in the trackway formed of the smaller areathe hooks 34 are retracted from the openings 35. Rotation of thebell-shaped member 6 on the shaft I3 will alternately extend and retractthe hooks from the openings.

Mounted in spaced relation within the pulley and attached to the topwall 1 thereof are a plurality of U-shaped supports 31 for pivotallymounting the hooks 34 as indicated at 38, said hooks being supported onpins 39 which are held in the parallel legs of the U-shaped supports 31.As the hooks 34 are extended and retracted they move on their pivot pins39. Thus the hooks are properly supported for extensible and retractiblemovement by the levers 25 during rotation of said levers in thetrackway.

It is thought that the function of the pulleys for use in supportingclotheslines and the like will be readily apparent from the abovedescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.Lines of various types may also be supported in the annular groove 20and held by the hooks 34 for displaying merchandise and numerous otheruses. An endless line will be effectively supported on the pulley withthe pulleys and lines extending at different angles and the line will atall times be free to travel in the groove 20.

Also it will be understood, of course, by those skilled in the art thatvariations in the hereinabove described device involving thesubstitution of substantial equivalents for the devices described areintended to be comprehended within the spirit of the present inventionand that the invention is capable of extended application and is notconfined to the exact showing of the drawing nor to the preciseconstruction described and, therefore, such changes and modificationsmay be made therein as do not affect the spirit of the invention norexceed the scope thereof as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, a vertical fixed shaft, anannular wheel form-ing body mounted concentrically about the shaft, aplurality of transverse members secured to the annular body androtatably supporting the same on the shaft, the said body havingcircumferentially spaced openings, a plurality of hook shaped elementspivotally supported at their inner ends in the body, the said hookelements being movable radially of the body to retracted positionstherein and extended positions with their outer portions extended thruthe respective openings in the body, a cam shaped grooved trackwayrigidly secured to the shaft with-in the body, and a lever having itsouter end pivotally connected to each hook element and its inner portionengaged within said grooved trackway for alternately retracting andextending said hook elements during each turn of the wheel.

2. In a pulley, a fixed vertical shaft, an annular wheel forming bodymounted concentrically about the shaft, the said annular body having acircumferential groove therein and circumferentially spaced openingsbelow the said groove, transverse members secured to the top and bottomof the annular body and rotatably supporting the same on the shaft, aplurality of support sections mounted vertically in the body, aplurality of hook shaped keeper elements pivotally connected to the saidsupport sections, the said hook shaped elements being movable radiallyof the body to retracted positions therein and to extended positionsthrough the respective openings in the annular body wall, a cam shapedtrackway secured to the shaft and extending thereabout within the body,angular flanges formed at the top and bottom edges of the said trackwayand projecting outwardly thereof, and

a plurality of levers connecting the said hook' shaped elements with thesaid trackway for re tracting and projecting the said elements duringrotation of the wheel, each of the said levers having its outer endpivotally connected to a hook shaped element and having a T-shapedportion at its inner end engaging the flanged portions of the trackwayfor pivotally actuating the said hook shaped elements during rotation ofthe wheel.

3. In a pulley, a fixed shaft, an annular wheel forming body mountedconcentrically about the said shaft, the said body having a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced openings, transverse members secured to the topand bottom of the annular body and rotatably supporting the same on theshaft, a plurality of support sections extended transversely in thebody, a plurality of hook shaped keeper-elements pivotally connected tothe said support sections, the said elements being movable radially ofthe body to retracted positions therein and to extended positionsthrough the respective openings in the annular body, a cam shapedtrackway secured to the shaft and extending thereabout within the body,angular flanges formed at the top and bottom edges of the said trackway,and a plurality of levers connecting the said hook shaped elements withthe said trackway for retracting and projecting the said elements duringrotation of the wheel, each of the said levers having its outer endpivotally connected to one of the elements and having an inner portionshaped to engage the flanged portions of the trackway forpivotally-actuating the said elements.

' TIMOTHY K. WATSON.

